


I'm Not Wearing the Matching Sweaters and That's Final

by mandaree1



Series: it ain't technically a baby draft if they're your kids [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Commission work, Dorky Aunt Casta, F/M, Fluff, Hugs, Insecure Glimmer, talking things through
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 07:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17300060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandaree1/pseuds/mandaree1
Summary: Glimmer's worried about her new relationship with Bow. Castaspella isn't helping matters much.





	I'm Not Wearing the Matching Sweaters and That's Final

" _I'm literally going to die_ ," Glimmer wailed, pacing the room. "How could I have forgotten to bring a swimsuit?"

Adora, sitting neatly on the edge of her bed, raised an eyebrow. Her eyes followed her movements without any real interest, trained from a young age to keep watch on most everything. "Glimmer, they have swimsuits here."

"Yeah, but they're all white and ugly! I wanted something- I dunno- cuter?"

She squinted at her, confusion written plain as day on her features. "Why? Bow's seen you in them before."

Glimmer groaned and ran a hand over her face. She didn't want to even begin trying to explain this kind of concept to Adora. Not this late in the day. This was a breakfast to lunch talk. "It's... whatever. I just wanted to look alright."

"You look like Glimmer," she said, no-nonsense.

"I wanted to look like a _slightly-pretty_ Glimmer," she corrected.

"You always look pretty? I don't understand?"

"Adora, your taste in girls is pretty iffy. You like _cat girls_ , for pete's sake."

"I dunno who Pete is, but he has a _great taste_ in women." Adora smiled reassuringly as she grabbed Glimmer's shoulders, meeting her eyes in hopes of calming her down. It somewhat worked- which, for Adora and her lackluster social skills, was a job well done. "It'll be fine. You and Bow love the beaches here. Even if your swimsuit is a bunch of white and ugly rags, it'll be white and ugly rags you can _swim in_."

Glimmer laughed. She was suddenly very grateful for having brought the girl on this trip to Mystacor, even if Adora didn't really have much to do here. The reminder had her gently grabbing the girl's wrists, eyebrows knitting. "Are you sure you're okay with being here? I don't want you to feel left out. I'm sure Bow-"

"It's _fine_ , Glimmer. This is a good chance to work on this relaxing thing." She glanced at her bed, seemingly confused at the concept of a nap. "This should be interesting."

"I believe in you!"

"Get going, or you'll be late."

The door clicking behind her made Glimmer's anxiety spike, but she couldn't turn back now. Mystacor was always a decent temperature, but in the summer the humidity gave it a sort of balmy heat that, along with the natural steam from the hot springs, made her hair stick to her face and cheeks. Mosquitos nibbled on her ankles as she walked the stone path towards the cooler ocean, hands behind her back.

Once, the shadows had meant nothing to her. But now she knows Shadow Weaver, and she knows that even here it's not the brightest idea to be _completely_ off her guard, and it's for that reason alone she catches the faintest sound of Bow's flip-flops on rock as he made his way towards her. She took in a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair, praying this didn't end in disaster. She couldn't imagine losing Bow- but she also could, if that made any sense. Maybe it was her insecurities, maybe it was because she had experience with loss, or maybe it was both; she just knew that anything and everything was on the table, no matter what they said.

"Oh thank stars," Glimmer said as Bow came over the crest of the hill. "You forgot your swimsuit too?"

Bow looked down at his towel ensemble. "I, uh... I just thought this was super comfy."

She resisted the urge to smack herself. "Oh."

"Do you not wanna swim? There's plenty of stuff we can do without swimsuits."

"No! No, that's okay." Glimmer rubbed her elbow self-consciously. "I'm just being dumb."

"Glimmer, you're not being dumb-" he started, concerned. Glimmer went to cut him off, only to be cut off herself.

They both jumped at the hurried steps and the shriek of their names as Castaspella came up behind them, pulling them into a hug. "Oooh, my babies are on their first date! I always knew you'd be cute together."

" _Aunt Casta_ ," she moaned, secretly happy. She'd wanted to draw the conversation in another path, sure, but did it _have_ to be drawn this way? "You're killing me with your Aunt-germs. Is that what you want? You want to kill your favorite niece with Aunt-germs?"

"You're immune to them by now," she replied, pressing a big kiss to her cheek as evidence of that. Glimmer flinched back as if burned. "Is this really what you're wearing?"

That didn't help her worries any. Glimmer felt her face get uncomfortably warm. "I forgot my swimsuit at home."

"I could swing by the tailors and buy you a-"

"Noooooooooo."

Castaspella pouted. "I'm just trying to help," she said, sounding only somewhat hurt.

Bow waved. "Heya, Ms. Casta. How's it going?"

"It's nice to know _someone_ cares." Castaspella ruffled his hair. "You take good care of Glimmer for me, Bow, or I'll have to eviscerate you with magic. I've seen it happen, you know. It's quite painful."

"Yes, ma'am," he tittered uneasily. "I've always tried, ma'am."

"He's like eighty percent of my self-control."

" _Eighty_?" Bow echoed, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, all of my self-control." She rolled her eyes. "Can you give us some space, Aunt Casta? We're kind of doing _a thing_ here."

"Oh! Oh, yes, yes, my bad." Castaspella took a pointed step back with a tiny gesture of her hand. "Have fun! Go be kids!"

"Now I feel like we _have_ to have fun." Glimmer jokingly swooned. "How am I supposed to perform with this pressure?"

Castaspella blew her another kiss and swiftly turned tail. Glimmer couldn't help but notice she was being far more relaxed about this than she had expected. She'd been better than her mom, anyway, what with the fifty or so guards who just-so-happened to be nearby whenever they were home to regroup or strategize or sleep. War is hell, sure, but would it kill the Queen to chill for even a second about the most mundane of relationship developments? Something she'd openly supported in the past?

"She's nice," Bow commented.

"You've known her for years, Bow."

"I can still say she's nice."

"Touché."

Bow hesitantly reached an arm out to wrap around her shoulders, going centimeter by centimeter. It reminded Glimmer of how one might treat an animal threatening to bolt. "Hey, are you okay?"

Glimmer shrugged.

"Is _this_ okay?"

She finally got up the nerve to look at him. "This is great, Bow. Really. I'm just a flaming hot wreck in a cape."

"I like your cape," he said. "And that's okay. We're all wrecks."

"Not true," she replied, mostly just to argue.

"Name someone in this war who is even slightly _not_ a wreck."

"Frosta."

He wasn't impressed. "I once saw Frosta drink sugar straight from the bag and not even twitch."

"Okay, fair."

Bow rubbed her arm comfortingly, mouth twisting into a frown. "I'm kind of nervous too, honestly. This is... this is a _big_ step."

Something in her chest jerked. It was getting hard to breathe, something Glimmer blamed on the humidity rather than her own anxiety. It was easy to blame the weather. If she blamed her own shortcomings, she had to work on it, and this wasn't a good time for that kind of introspection. "Do you... not want to?"

"I never said that." He paused. "...Do you?"

"No! Nonono _please_ don't think that." Glimmer pressed closer to him. "I just... I don't want to mess this up."

That startled a laugh out of Bow. "I mean, realistically speaking, we probably will. We kind of mess stuff up all the time. Honestly, it's kind of a miracle we aren't dead, the things we do. But we worked through all that- we can work though this too, right?"

"Right," she agreed. The reassurance felt like a warm bath to her insides. Bow bent his head slightly to brush his lips across hers, something she gladly returned.

It was a nice night for a swim.

**Author's Note:**

> Another commission! This one is technically related to The Talk, but it can be read alone. =)
> 
> -Mandaree1


End file.
